You have to run that postprocessing somehow, and sometimes videoconferencing software doesn't give you that flexibility. So then you have to set a up a virtual microphone, which might be a hassle in your platform. At that point, and as you said, considering that you may not know enough about audio on how to set that up, you're much better with an easy-to-use, dynamic microphone that does much of what you need on its own.
Well, given that most people still use Windows, VB-Audio software mixer and virtual soundcard plus Cantabile as effect host together work exceedingly well.
And cost nothing or very little. (But do support the authors.)
Hardware has ease of setup and excellent knobs going for it, but if you're going for cheap, you should spend money on a condenser microphone, some mounting hardware (e.g. gooseneck, spider mount, maybe pop filter) and audio interface first.
$200 put there makes for professional quality audio.
t.bone SC 400 and an interface that does phantom power, like one of the cheaper Focusrite or Presonus ones. (If you feel extra cheap, you can go lower price on interfaces but it's not worth it.)
Your setup is great for enthusiasts like you and me, but everyday folks don't want to deal with mounting hardware or audio interfaces or learning what a condenser mic is or spending more than $50.
It's a supercardioid (partly directional) microphone. The only difference for user is that it is XLR and needs the 48V button set to on, and a shock mount because this specific one is sensitive to hits. It comes with an ok spider mount, but you need at least a tiny extra tripod.
$50 is about the price of the microphone.
It so happens that there's the $70 USB version of it too, but the interface in it is just acceptable, as opposed to being superb. (This microphone sounds as good as $400 RODE products, using it with bad interface is a disservice when $80 gets you a great one.)
For that case, a couple of years ago I bought a small Blue microphone (their cheapest model I think), and got amazing audio quality from it. My main requirement though was getting a USB mic, since my laptop at the time had the nasty habit of getting noise into the audio-in line.
